The Turnpike Authority’s executive director brought mixed news for New Jersey motorists Monday when she appeared before an Assembly committee.

No new toll increases are planned, said the director, Veronique Hakim. But no major improvements to the state’s dated service areas are likely until at least 2018.

In an occasionally sharp exchange with Assemblywoman Linda Stender, D-Union, Hakim said the authority will likely wait until current contracts with the service areas’ operator expire before she considers replacing existing buildings with new ones.

Stender said she is struck by the buildings’ age and appearance.

“They are unattractive. They are seedy,” she said, adding that she saw a new service area in Delaware that was “far more pleasant, welcoming, uplifting.”

The contracts with the service areas’ operator expire in 2018 for the parkway and in 2020 for the turnpike, Hakim said. To “really modify” buildings, she said, “I think our biggest bang is going to be when we re-let those contracts.”

But Hakim also defended the current operator, HMSHost. The company has “spent a tremendous amount of time” improving and maintaining the buildings, she said.

“They’re not beautiful,” she said of the buildings, but “they’re generally clean.”

Hakim also had good news for the Assembly’s transportation committee. The Turnpike Authority has no new plans to increase tolls following the large increase that took effect at the start of this year, she said.

Turnpike tolls were hiked 53 percent on Jan. 1, and parkway tolls jumped 50 percent. Those increases were the second in a two-part plan aimed at raising money for construction projects. The first part took effect in 2008, when the tolls went up 40 percent on the turnpike and 43 percent on the parkway.

Hakim told the committee she wants to “state quite clearly: there’s no new toll increase planned.”

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Melissa Hayes, who has worked at The Record since 2010, covers Gov. Chris Christie and politics for the State House Bureau. Follow her on Twitter at @Record_Melissa. View all of her posts

Herb Jackson is the Washington correspondent for The Record, covering North Jersey issues on the Potomac, including the activities of the congressional delegation and federal policies that affect the region. Follow him on Twitter @Record_DC.View all of his posts.

John Reitmeyer, a reporter in the State House Bureau since 2007, focuses on taxes, state budgets, campaign finance and government ethics. Follow him on Twitter @JohnReitmeyer. View all of his posts

Charles Stile is the political columnist for The Record. He is a former State House Bureau chief at The Record and has covered politics and government in New Jersey for more than two decades. Follow him on Twitter @PoliticalStile. View all of his posts